Question 149
EasyOriginal questionAsk most people why summer is hot and they will say that the Earth is closer to the Sun at that time of year. The idea sounds , and it is wrong.
It is true that the Earth's path around the Sun is not a perfect circle, so the distance between them changes a little during the year. But the northern half of the planet has its winter when the Earth is closest to the Sun, and its summer when the Earth is farthest away. Compared with how far away the Sun is, the change in distance is too small to make much difference to our weather.
The real cause is the Earth's . The planet spins around an imaginary line, its , which runs from the North Pole to the South Pole. That axis does not stand straight up; it leans to one side. As the Earth travels round the Sun, first one half of the planet and then the other is tipped towards the Sun and receives its most rays. When the North Pole leans towards the Sun, it is summer in the northern half of the world; when it leans away, it is winter there.
Because the poles are at ends of the planet, the two halves of the world always have opposite seasons. When it is summer in India, it is winter in Australia.
The word "tilt" in the passage means
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The next sentences explain it: the axis "does not stand straight up; it leans to one side".
So a tilt is a lean.
Worth noting
Heat and speed are connected to the topic but not to the word. The sentence right after it gives the meaning away.
- Concept
- Working out a word's meaning from the explanation that follows it
- Typical timeTypical
- 30 s
- Your timeYours
- —
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